After-school snacking at Maccas creates new drive-through 'peak hour'

After-school snacking at fast food restaurants has created a new drive-through peak hour, with up to four times as many motorists pulling in for a mid-afternoon feed than 20 years ago.

The new peak hour – between 3pm and 4pm on weekdays – was recorded in a study commissioned by the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), which compared trips to fast food restaurants in 1980, 1993 and 2016.

"The 'after school' peak period around 3.30pm observed in the current study on weekdays was not present in the 1993 study, potentially indicating that after school McDonald's trips are a newer development," the RMS report said.

The average number of trips to a group of selected McDonald's outlets across NSW showed people going through the doors or drive-through during mid-afternoon was quadruple the 1993 rate of about 50 visitors per hour.

People queuing outside the McDonald's in Weston Creek, ACT, in 1979.Credit:Fairfax Archives

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Saturday lunchtime was typically the busiest time at the 26 takeaway sites in the study, but not all. McDonald's Liverpool was busiest on Wednesday with a peak of 272 trips in the hour starting at 3pm.

A McDonald's spokeswoman said the chain "continue[s] to see growth across all parts of the day".

"The growth we've seen in the mid-afternoon period is driven primarily by older Millennials, people over the age of 25, including tradies and young professionals, not those at school," she said.

7 day average hourly McDonald's trips in 1993 and 2016.Credit:Bitzios Consulting

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Mid-afternoon fast-food rushes worry Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Newcastle Clare Collins. She said people aren't "dropping into fast food restaurants to grab an apple" or a bowl of Weet-Bix, which were common snacks after school in the 1990s.

"A peak around 3.30pm suggests people are going there for snacks," Professor Collins said. "If you look at the menus, what you can buy with $2 – a packaged bit of food and drink – has the same kilojoules as a whole meal but it's being passed off as a snack."

The last national nutrition survey, from 2011/12, showed that about one-third of Australians food intake came from junk food but young people consume more than other age groups with about 40 per cent of their diet filled with junk.

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Fast food outlets devoured the biggest slice of Australia's food and beverage market pie in 2017 with about $6.5 billion in revenue flowing their way. Restaurants made about $4.5 billion.

There are about 196 McDonald's stores in Sydney and 980 across the country. Their rate of recent growth is running at around 20 new restaurants each year.

Eating habits track from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, and using fast food as an after-school snack can lead to premature chronic disease, Professor Collins said.

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"After-school snacks have been replaced by junk food, especially for teenagers," she said.

"Parents need to think about what to put in a lunchbox that can go on that trip [home] with them, especially for kids who have a long way to commute.

"Do schools need to provide a canteen after school so there are healthy options and somewhere for the kids to hang out?"